This invention relates to food containers and more particularly to disposable food containers for preserving food, by way of example, frozen dinners and restaurant carryouts, which include eating utensils. One aspect of the current practice is that containers for prepared foods do not include knives, spoons or forks for partaking of the foods. The objection to this practice is that the utensils are often inadvertently omitted or not available at the sources of the foods.
Another aspect of the current practice is that the food utensils which are supplied with prepared foods are generally supplied without outer wrappings. The objection to this practice is that unwrapped utensils pose a health risk.
Despite the benefits of providing eating utensils in food containers, none of the combination food container and utensil concepts of the prior art have achieved commercial success. It is believed that the reasons they have not achieved success is the added cost and/or functional deficiencies.
Fleischer U.S. Pat. No. 1,514,379, Schneider U.S. Pat. No. 1,625,335 Pearson U.S. Pat. No. 2,353,582 and Chang U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,093 are exemplary of food containers having utensils in the prior art.
Fleischer U.S. Pat. No. 1,514,379, more than sixty years ago, patented a construction for an ice cream cup with a cover containing a spoon. The cover was comprised of a bottom member and a top sheet of waterproof paper bonded to an outwardly-extending flange portion of the bottom member.
Shortly after Fleischer patented his ice cream cup, Schneider U.S. Pat. No. 1,625,335 patented an ice cream cup having a paper cover with an exposed utensil portion which was separable from the cover along a tear line.
Pearson U.S. Pat. No. 2,353,582 patented an ice cream cup having a cover formed of a plurality of layers and a partially exposed spoon stored between the layers of the cover.
Chang U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,093 patented a food container having a utensil enclosed in a compartmented cover which was accessible by severing a portion of the outer covering along a perforated line.
In view of the objections to the current practice and the variety of concepts for a combination food and utensil container which have long been available in the prior art, it will be appreciated that a long felt need exists which, as yet, remains unsatisfied.